ClickUp CEO Zeb Evans Cuts 22% Of Workforce, Cites AI Reshaping Operations

ClickUp laid off 22% of its workforce as CEO Zeb Evans said on X that the company’s “business is the strongest it's ever been.”

“ClickUp is taking a winner-takes-all approach to its workforce”

Business Insider

Evans said the restructuring is tied to how AI is reshaping the way companies operate, writing “First, I made this decision and I own it.”

Business Insider

He described a new operating model around what he called a “100x org,” where smaller teams using AI systems can produce dramatically more output than traditional workflows.

Evans also announced plans for “$1 million cash/year salary bands” for employees who create “outsized impact using AI,” and said “The future is not fewer people.”

The Economic Times reported that ClickUp is restructuring around AI and automation while introducing what Evans described as “million-dollar salary bands” for top-performing employees using artificial intelligence effectively.

In an open memo on X, Evans said the layoffs were restructuring to create a “100x org” and the introduction of $1M cash salary bands for employees who build or run AI systems that produce outsized impact.

He wrote, “This wasn't about cutting costs,” and said “Most savings from this change will flow directly back into the people who stay.”

LinkedIn

Evans laid out a workforce split into “builders,” “agent managers,” and “front-liners,” and Business Insider reported that Andy Cabasso told it the company has a mandate to use AI agents more and that it fosters a culture of sharing AI workflows.

Business Insider also quoted Cabasso saying he oversees 37 AI agents himself, while The Times of India described ClickUp as a “Converged AI Workspace” and said the company has offices in Canada, Ireland, United Kingdom and Australia.

The HR Digest echoed Evans’s framing that he “made this decision, and I own it,” and said the company cut 22% of its headcount to push its progress on AI integration further.

The Economic Times linked ClickUp’s announcement to a broader AI-driven reshaping of tech work, noting that Meta confirmed sweeping job cuts affecting around 8,000 employees and that Gavin Newsom signed an executive order aimed at supporting employees displaced by automation.

“Zeb Evans, CEO of cloud-based productivity platform ClickUp, announced on Thursday that the company has laid off 22% of its workforce as it accelerates the adoption of artificial intelligence across its operations”

The American Bazaar

Newsom said in a statement, “California has never sat back and watched as the future happened to us, and we won’t start now,” as the order was designed to provide severance protections, employment support and transition assistance.

The Economic Times also cited Layoffs.fyi data saying more than 114,000 tech employees across 150 companies have reportedly lost jobs in 2026 so far.

In parallel, Business Insider described ClickUp’s approach as “a winner-takes-all approach to its workforce,” with Evans promising million-dollar salaries for remaining employees and tying the new goal to reaching “100x output.”

Evans ended his message with a prediction that “Nearly every company will make changes like these,” and that “The ones that do it proactively will define what comes next,” according to the American Bazaar.